Seattle Housing Prices Lead the Nation

Seattle continues to lead the nation’s major cities in climbing home prices, a dubious honor that the metro area has held for 19 months.

Seattle’s 13 percent year-over-year increase in median home prices in March was trailed by Las Vegas with a 12.4 percent increase and San Francisco with an 11.3 percent increase, according to S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller data released Tuesday.

The 19-month run is unmatched since San Francisco’s home prices outpaced all others for 20 months during the dot-com boom, from 1999 to 2001.

Seattle is hardly alone in experiencing strong home demand and short supply, though. Nationally, buyers are paying a premium for ownership as the number of homes up for sale declines while mortgage rates rise.